Israel steps up security

LINDA GRADSTEIN THE MEDIA LINE

Israeli officials were careful to remain ambiguous after four Israeli jets allegedly targeted a missile shipment along the border between Israel and Lebanon late last month. While Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that Israel will do what it needs to defend itself, and an unnamed Israeli security official told Time magazine that Israel was responsible, the official establishment neither confirmed nor denied that Israel was behind the attack.

By not officially taking responsibility, Israel does not put Hezbollah or Syria (its apparent supplier of weapons) in a position to force it to take action. At first, Hezbollah denied an airstrike had even occurred, as has been their habit in the past six years. Hezbollah then shifted gears, however, openly blaming Israel for the strikes and vowing revenge, though it continued to deny reports in Arab media that four fighters had been killed. Israeli analysts said they believe Hezbollah strayed from its usual operating procedure because it is coming under increasing pressure in Lebanon for fighting alongside troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while Lebanon is being inundated with refugees from the Syrian conflict. There have been growing calls in Lebanon for Hezbollah to give up its arms.

“In terms of Hezbollah’s political power in Lebanon, this is the worst challenge they have faced since 2000 and the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon,” said Benedetta Berti, a research fellow at Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies. “Hezbollah’s main identity has been as an Arab Lebanese resistance movement, and one of their mottos has been ‘we don’t use our weapons against other Arabs – the weapons are for Israel.’” Publicizing the alleged Israeli attack gives Hezbollah more ammunition in its fight to keep its weapons.

Israel went on high alert along its northern border, canceling soldiers’ weekend leaves and sending more troops toward the border. An Israeli military official said Israel is prepared for an attack.

“We certainly recognize that Hezbollah is a serious threat to the state of Israel,” said a military official who could not be named according to army regulations. “It is a very, very advanced and well-funded and well-armed terrorist organization. It is recognized as such by the U.S., the European Union, as well as other countries. The Israeli army sees Hezbollah as a proxy of Iran, which is funded by Iran and trained by Iran right on Israel’s border.”

Hezbollah has an estimated 100,000 rockets that can reach all parts of Israel, the official said, more than it had before the 2006 war with Israel. “The organization is taking advantage of the civilian population and hiding these rockets in the basements of homes and in hospitals,” the official said.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the Israeli attack was not on Hezbollah alone, but on all of Lebanon. Earlier this month, Lebanon announced a new government, after a 10-month deadlock. The new prime minister, Tammam Salam, a Sunni lawmaker, has said he wants to hold presidential elections before President Michel Suleiman’s term expires in May.

The influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees from Syria has taken a toll on Lebanon. The small country of four million is having difficulty coping, and there have been growing tensions between the refugees, who are often willing to work for very low wages, and Lebanese. Even if the Lebanese government would prefer to avoid another conflict with Israel, it may find itself drawn in against its will.

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